Was all set on my current install to fire up the system... setup the receiver....test programming and hand the client the keys to his system with him and his wife sitting right there anxiously awaiting to watch some tv in their new home.

I fire up the new receiver and firmware update pops up on the pioneer vsx-831. Sure enough it hangs 70 percent thru it. 2 hours later still nothing. Then i tried usb update versus net.... get error code. Try net again.... continues at 70% with no progress. Manual lists a reset procedure.... hold auto/direct and hit standby and wait for clear on display... i get nothing.


Call snap tech... say listen... i got a bricked unit on a firmware update... it's almost 7 and i need another one sent out asap.... get put on hold and told we can't send you a replacement for your bricked unit. We feel it might just take longer to do the update (this was after the did u unplug it for 15 seconds bit, in my head i'm like listen buddy lets just jump right to step 100 in your tech support worksheet). Seriously? 2 hrs isn't enough with zero progress when both the manual and the osd list 20 min;30 min tops. Straightup error codes when trying usb as well still isn't enough to warrant a swap? So he gets back on the line around 7:03, 3 min past the order by 7pm get it shipped tonight time. Well we can't help you but you can talk to customer service and buy a new one and get it coming. With mr client sitting right like i'm like fine... connect me and i'll order one and worry about this bs later. Sure enough because its 3 min past 7 customer service can't help me and get one shipped out tonight. I tell him... listen just talked to tech support for last 20 min. I need to get a receiver ordered asap...can you get it out tonight. Oh sorry sir its just past 7 can't help you... but you can try talking to tech support and maybe they can help you.

Seriously? Did i not just state that I just talked to them.

My snap order that arrived earlier in the day also was messed up with wrong product and missing product.

Ugh. One of those days. Wish i had a spare vsx-831 in stock.

First time i've tried a pioneer receiver. Might just be the last. God i hate tech sometimes. Shoulda just skipped the damn firmware update and called it a day.

Sorry to hear. I got my but kicked a bit today too, but not quite that bad.

Sadly, one of the two B&H reviews for that model has the same exact story. $nap or no $snap, I would say move on from the Pioneer. Isn't it basically an Onkyo now? And what's up with Half of the inputs having HDCP 2.2. I hate when Mfgrs do that...

If two units bricked during updates, I would have tested the network.

How many devices were on the network (you weren't using WiFi, were you?)?

Only asking since I wasn't there.

Crappy day. Firmware before delivery and inventory. Helps greatly.

If i had a dollar for every time I heard about a firmware update failing during an install...
Update via USB at base - add it to travel time.
Safe is better than sorry.


Not that you want to hear that... but still.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER deploy a system with a client sitting there. I understand that sometimes this maybe tough to kick a client out of their own room but in the mingst of excitement (for the client) and a billion questions and you trying to be polite it's a recipe for disaster. I know this was not your fault at all, but firing it up for the first time usually means setup and firmware upgrades...easy to miss a setting when the client is blabbering. Not to mention the possible DOA or bricking issue. Not only does the client wonder if he bought the right product, but if he chose the right installer. It's totally BS I know, but it's just the way people think.

You 2nd mistake was using a pioneer. Sorry but they are crap.

Shocking snap treated you the way they did. Usually when it comes to stuff like this they are good. Makes me wonder if they are starting to clamp down on returns and advanced replacements due to the re organization and growth of the company...

If this industry, manufacturers like pioneer etc actually had to pay for our time to deal with the BS failed products we deal with can you imagine the 180 in product quality we would see. I like many others are completely burned out because of the BS we deal with. I wish cedia was worth a damn and actually advocated for this

ya i here ya on half the inputs thing.. wtf.


and yes basically onkyo now.

only one unit on site that bricked. Not many devices on network at all. less then 7. Not using wifi.

agreed. exactly what I was saying to myself during this situation. This one was a rush job. Receiver just arrived today and wanted to get it done for the client. As soon as it arrived the truck rolled for install.

Yes I agree. Time to change my practices.

Ya i hate these situations. Both the client and his wife were home and as this is happening I am sitting there thinking to myself lovely. Now this guy is going to think exactly what you said.... did he buy the right product... is he second guessing his installer now.

I am sure snap will handle it better when I call in the morning and tell them I am now sitting at about 6 hours now and it is still stuck at 70%. Come morning time i'll be over 14 hrs.

Used to use denon as my go to brand and had good luck in past but hearing horror stories. Trying to decide what brand I want to focus on going forward. I keep hearing yamaha is a good bet. For this particular install this receiver spec wise fit the bill perfect. But i guess it wasn't so perfect after all.

I guess shame on me perhaps... i should know better and expect these kinds of issues. It's unfortunate that you have to plan for this kind of stuff but seems nowadays you do. Should have played with a new brand on my own time in my own home before putting it to use in the field. Of course even if I did that I could still have be ok at home then had a random issue in the field, ya just never know.

I had an error code of 0 -82 when trying over usb. No clue what the hell that code is. Can't find a listing anywhere online.




-update.... Snap took care of me this am. yay!

I just went thru this tonight. I can't remember the exact things I did to fix it but this should get you there.
Download the firmware update from Pioneer unzip it and place the unzipped files on a basic thumbdrive then place the unzipped file on the drive. Unplug the unit for 10 seconds while unplugged then with two hands press the AUTO/DIRECT and power button then plug the unit it with the other hand you should see Recovery USB then slide the thumb drive in the front USB socket. It should soon start updating then when it says Success!! pull the thumb drive out and press power on the unit and off you go..

I know the original poster from a year ago, said he did all those things. Pioneer is just junk... period!
Glad that worked for you to get your receiver working again. But you still have 1 problem = you still have a crappy Pioneer VSX-832.

Are you going to have problems out of every Pioneer you buy? Of course not, otherwise they would have no sales at all. The internet would be filled with horror stories about Pioneer everywhere.
But the fail rate is high enough that us installers see it. And that is unacceptable. And even if you get a 'working' unit, Pioneer is so flaky that you probably wish it wasn't. And then there is the sound quality... meh!


History lesson:
Pioneer use to make some great stuff in the 70's. Starting in the 80's, they went thru these cycles = They would make some good stuff for a few years, than crap for a few years. Back & forth.
There last good cycle was with the awesome Pioneer Plasma displays.
I'm sad to say that I don't think Pioneer will ever recover from this last (long) cycle of crap products. For the 1st time their entire line from home to car audio product has been absolute crap for many years now, all at the same time.
Lesson = Do NOT use Pioneer product these days.

Brad, what do you think about Pioneer?

I still use Denon and have had few problems over the years. Pioneer lost me when they pulled out of TV, home and other divisions and I’m glad I wasn’t using them as my main brand when they pulled the rug out.

WRT Yamaha- they seem to be very reliable, but their specs are a bit optimistic and the tests show them underperforming. Denon met/exceeded spec.

Something else that Denon has now- onboard diagnostics. It's limited, but it helps show why it shut down. I recently replaced an eleven year old Denon AVR, mainly because it only had two HDMI inputs and one output, so I chose the AVRX-4300H because it has six and it also has two 12V triggers, which I need. Well, after it was in the rack for a few months, it suddenly shut off, showing the red flashing LED. It happened once on one day and twice the following day, the last time with no LED illumination at all. I called CI tech support and he told me how to see the status- some codes indicate a power supply issue (could be internal or external) and it can also show thermal or amplifier issues and it shows the number of events, too.

Seems to be caused by me turning on the rear speakers before connecting, then operating the AVR as if everything was normal. I set the rear speakers to OFF and it hasn't repeated.

I didn't originally want to, but I'm using Zone 2 speaker output for the kitchen, which was originally supposed to be powered by its own amplifier and used mainly as its own zone. If it's the only thing playing, I wouldn't have any issues but I really don't want to turn it on and have it screw up anything in the Den, if someone is watching/listening to something else and I'm sharing some components between the Den and the House audio. That would annoy me and I certainly don't want it to annoy the clients. I set Zone 2 volume to Variable and Zone 3 volume to Fixed (feeds a preamp for the whole house audio, which has its own VC). Heos takes over everything when it's turned on, so I need to start that for Zones 2/3 before dong anything in the Den, but so far, it's working very well. All amplifier channels are the same, so it's not 5 good ones and 6 that are crappy, with cheap spring-loaded terminals. Zones 2 and 3 can be Stereo or mono, too.

Hard wired, I think the Firmware update took less than 10 minutes, but I wasn't really watching the clock at the time.